Promising Practices in Indigenous Education
A brighter future begins
with better education
The Martin Family Initiative (MFI) launched the Promising Practices in Indigenous Education Website (PPW) in December 2009. PPW is a virtual library/clearinghouse of curriculum resources and research for policy makers, researchers, health professionals, community workers and funders, those who work directly and indirectly with Indigenous students. Its goal is to improve elementary and secondary Indigenous student success.
PPW collects and publicizes curriculum materials, learning strategies, relevant policies and research, Early Childhood Education resources, Parent/Community Engagement, and other promising initiatives. The website hosts curriculum guides, videos, research papers, and resources for Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers and learners. It also provides links to other Indigenous education organizations.
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From our most recent update:
Child Development
Source: Seneca Libraries
Summary: This Child Development Guide identifies articles, government documents, agency websites, and other select resources to support your program.
Lessons from the Earth and Beyond
Source: Collaboration with Dufferin Peel CDSB
Focus: Grades 6-8
Summary: This interdisciplinary resource brings forward a new approach to learning and reveals our intimate connection to the universe. The activities and content will show how Indigenous Knowledge systems can enhance and resonate with a wide range of disciplines that includes STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) fields. Classroom activities embedded throughout explore mathematical concepts connected to the Indigenous knowledge systems presented in this resource.
Advancing Truth and Reconciliation in Education
Source: John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
Focus: Secondary students and teachers
Summary: In 2016, John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) engaged in a collaborative pilot project with five schools in Edmonton Catholic and Edmonton Public Schools called Advancing Truth and Reconciliation in Education. We have created a meaningful process whereby students explore reconciliation from a rights-based lens. The pilot program consisted of nine learning sessions and three student-led Call to Action sessions. We invited elders and community members to share their knowledge on a variety of important topics such as Indigenous language, worldview and treaty.
In addition, the 2019 Zine explores some of the themes and ideas in JHC’s Advancing Truth and Reconciliation Toolkit. Within these pages you will find perspectives from youth, knowledge keepers and community members we worked with in 2018/19. Art and dialogue were important tools for transformative learning throughout this project and helped participants understand and unpack some of the complex ideas related to our own role in advancing truth and reconciliation in our communities.
K-12 Tipi Camp Virtual Tour
Source: Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Focus: K-12
Summary: Tipis were the original homes of the Indigenous peoples of Saskatchewan. Join Theresa, our First Nations Program Specialist, as she tours the tipis in the First Nations Gallery. Learn how this versatile, portable structure was made by the women for their families. Tipis remain an important part of life for the Indigenous People of the Plains, with families putting up their canvas tipis for summer use in their backyards or at pow wows. (Length: 5:37)
Integration of Indigenous Content Through Experiential Learning into Existing Curriculum
Source: OTF
Summary: Our intent was to increase student engagement as well as awareness of Indigenous issues, perspectives and knowledge through the integration of indigenous content and Ways of Knowing into the current curriculum. In order to do this, we realized that our teachers must be engaged and comfortable when facilitating this learning in their classrooms.
We ran a pilot project in one of our communities with schools that service a First Nations community to see if we could help teachers feel more confident including indigenous issues, perspectives and knowledge into their lessons.
Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada: confronting challenges, forecasting growth
Source: Statistics Canada
Summary: The 2021 Census of Population counted 1.8 million Indigenous people, accounting for 5.0% of the population in Canada. The Indigenous population is 8.2 years younger on average than the non-Indigenous population, and nearly two-thirds (65.1%) were working-age (15 to 64 years). Moreover, just over 1 in 6 (17.2%) working-age Indigenous people were considered close to retirement (55 to 64 years), compared with 22.0% of the non-Indigenous population. Analysis conducted by Statistics Canada and Indigenous Services Canada indicates that in 2020, gross domestic product attributable to Indigenous people was $48.9 billion, up from $41.7 billion in 2012. More recently, the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions asked businesses about plans, challenges and expectations for the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2022—including data about Indigenous majority ownership.
There were 17,417 private businesses with majority ownership by First Nations people, Métis or Inuit in the fourth quarter, representing 1.7% of the 1,011,474 private-sector businesses operating in Canada. This represents a slight decline from the first quarter (January to March) of 2022, when the 23,530 Indigenous majority-owned businesses made up 2.3% of all private-sector businesses.
Les entreprises appartenant à des Autochtones au Canada : relever les défis et prévoir la croissance
Source: Statistique Canada
Résumé: Le Recensement de la population de 2021 a permis de dénombrer 1,8 million d’Autochtones. Ceux-ci représentent 5,0 % de la population du Canada. La population autochtone est, en moyenne, 8,2 ans plus jeune que la population non autochtone, et un peu moins des deux tiers (65,1 %) des Autochtones étaient en âge de travailler (de 15 à 64 ans). En outre, un peu plus de 1 Autochtone en âge de travailler sur 6 (17,2 %) est considéré comme approchant de la retraite (de 55 à 64 ans), comparativement à 22,0 % de la population non autochtone. Selon une analyse menée par Statistique Canada et Services aux Autochtones Canada, le produit intérieur brut attribuable aux peuples autochtones s’est chiffré à 48,9 milliards de dollars en 2020, en hausse par rapport à 41,7 milliards de dollars en 2012. Plus récemment, des entreprises ont été consultées dans le cadre de l’Enquête canadienne sur la situation des entreprises au sujet de leurs projets, de leurs défis et de leurs attentes pour le quatrième trimestre (d’octobre à décembre) de 2022, et des données ont été recueillies sur les entreprises détenues majoritairement par des Autochtones.
Il y avait 17 417 entreprises privées appartenant majoritairement à des membres des Premières Nations, des Métis ou des Inuit au cours du quatrième trimestre, et celles-ci représentaient 1,7 % des 1 011 474 entreprises du secteur privé exerçant des activités au Canada. Il s’agit d’un léger recul par rapport au premier trimestre (de janvier à mars) de 2022, lorsque les 23 530 entreprises appartenant majoritairement à des Autochtones représentaient 2,3 % de l’ensemble des entreprises du secteur privé.
A Progress Report on Indigenous Education in Ontario’s Publicly funded Schools
Source: People for Education
Summary: New report by People for Education shows that publicly funded schools in Ontario have made significant progress towards Indigenous education over the last decade but we still have a long way to go to fulfill the education-related Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.